Hitting the scene in the early 2010s, the New England style India pale ale came to fame thanks to a Vermont brewery, The Alchemist, with their Heady Topper, an unfiltered double IPA that became a cult favorite. The beer was a success, and other New England breweries followed suit: namely Hill Farmstead Brewery, also in Vermont, along with Trillium Brewing Company and Tree House Brewing Co., both in Massachusetts. Call them hazy, New England or Northeast style; they’re still all the rage — even if brewers and beer critics don’t totally dig hazy IPAs. The Brewers Association recognizes the New England IPA category for its competitions. Though loaded with hops, these small-batch brews tone down the bitterness by using milder varieties like Citra, Mosaic, and Galaxy, and adding them late in the brewing process. Unfiltered, these beers are meant to be drank young and fresh. Today, Peaks & Pints offers a flight of hazy IPAs that we call Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Hazy IPAs.
Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Hazy IPAs
Trillium Trailside IPA
6.8% ABV
Jean-Claude Tetreault and his wife, Esther, were expanding their “homebrew brand” with labels, more sophisticated equipment and eventually, homebrew at their wedding, when they decided to go pro. In March of 2013, perhaps dazed from property-hunting fatigue, the couple signed a lease on a space in Boston’s historic Fort Point neighborhood with the desire to create a lifestyle and experiences through the lens of a modern New England farmhouse-inspired brewery, Trillium Brewing. Their Trailside IPA is a fine-tuned take on the classic citrus-meets-tropical Trillium profile. Brewed with Strata and Citra hops, fresh-peeled clementine, tangelo, and candied Meyer lemon notes are complemented by overripe pineapple, mango nectar, and fuzzy peach. Its juice-forward with an underlying ruby red grapefruit bitterness.
Cloudburst Please Wait To be Seated
6.9% ABV
“Oh, hello welcome to the brewery we’ll be right with you in a second,” states Cloudburst Brewing‘s Please wait To Be Seated hazy IPA hype. “Ok so you’d like to join the kettle? Great, do you have a reservation? No? That’s ok. We can get you in towards the end of the boil in about an hour if that works. Can we get a name? Vista – V I S T A? And is it fine if you’re placed with another hop? Perfect – there’s a party of Citra that we could have you join. Do you have any wort stream restrictions we should know about? How about yeast preferences? Great. Nice and Easy. Tonight’s recipe will be a 5-course tasting note – it starts with a scent of yellow peach, followed by flavors of nectarine and ruby red grapefruit, then a sweet kiss of alcohol, a soft bitterness palate cleanser, and a dry finish.”
Trap Door Hazymodo – Sanctified IPA
7.1% ABV
Originally brewed with Steeplejack Brewing Company for their grand opening, Trap Door Brewing’s Hazymodo hazy IPA delivers a soft pillowy body that leads way to hop juice. Michigan Chinook hops give Hazymodo flavors of pineapple, grapefruit and citrus up front. Trap Door also adds a heavy dose of El Dorado and Citra hops for additional citrus and tropical fruit.
Matchless Super Fluff
8.3% ABV
Sometimes it’s best to let Matchless Brewing do all the talking: “I’m not like regular All Fluff. I’m a Super Fluff. Super Fluff. I’m super fluffyyyy. Because it’s a very fluffy beer. The kind you don’t take home to mother. It tastes like pineapple and orange juice. Once you get it out the cooler. This beer is super fluffy now (this beer is Super Fluff). You’ll really love to taste it (because its Super Fluff). This beer’s all right. This beer’s all right… with me. It’s Super Fluff. Super Fluff. It’s super fluffy.”
Great Notion Triple Dank Shark
10% ABV
Triple Dank Shark is yearly tradition Great Notion brews with Alvarado Street Brewery in Monterey, California. This apex predator in a sea of other triple IPAs is dry hopped with Strata, Nelson Sauvin, Citra, and Galaxy hops for rich velvety melon, grapefruit, salted watermelon, and dankness.
LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory
